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freedom radio hour

The Freedom Radio Hour is a weekly DJ mix and talk radio program hosted by DJ Adam Cruz and Eddie Nicholas. The show features a fresh DJ mix and a 15-minute informative talk segment, covering music business news and trends from around the globe.

As a DJ, Adam spins an energetic blend of Jazz, Funk, Latin, and soulful Dance music. As a virtuoso, Eddie brings a fantastic spin to the program, based on his experiences as a recording artist, performer and host. When they're not hard at work promoting their partners or their projects, Adam and Eddie continue to build a solid base of loyal listeners, broadcasting their weekly "Freedom Radio Hour" shows live on Capital Radio 91.6FM The Heartbeat of Sudan.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

The music industry's turbulent ride in the digital age continues to get bumpier with mostly cloudy skies ahead.

Overall album sales continue to dip in the double digits while the number of singles being sold -- generally at less than a dollar apiece -- are not sufficient to replace the lost revenue brought in by albums.

Not only is the industry failing to create new stars, the hottest commodities in music right now are the songs of Michael Jackson.

And with a summer largely devoid of superstar releases -- Daughtry's second album and Whitney Houston's comeback are the only likely million-unit sellers being released prior to Labor Day -- retailers will be putting their efforts into selling the holy grail of all catalogs come Sept. 9, the music of the Beatles.

Album sales for the first half of 2009 are down 15% from the same period in 2008 as the music business continues to look for help from the downloads of individual tracks.

Certainly the recession is contributing to fewer sales, but the top 10 of the first half of 2009 features only one new artist, Lady GaGa. (See top 10 chart)

Counting compact discs, vinyl LPs and downloaded albums, the tally for the first 26 weeks of the year is at 174.5 million units, down from 204.6 million in the first half of '08. Last year's figures were down 11% from 2007.

Four years ago, the first 26 weeks saw sales of 298.4 million albums; this year's tally is down a staggering 42% from 2005.

While the appetite for individual albums continues to decline, the sales of individual downloads continues to rise. In the first half of the year, 613 million tracks have been sold, a 13% spike from 2008's 514.7 million tracks.

Over the last four years, nearly every week has seen an increase in digital downloads from the same week in the previous year.

The last week of the current session, which ended Sunday, would have actually seen a 1% dip fro 2008 were it not for the sale of 2.66 million tracks by Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5.

Unlike last year, when Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" topped 1 million in sales in its first week, there is no breakout hit. Half of this year's top 10 are holdovers from 2008, led by Taylor Swift's "Fearless," which has sold 1.3 million copies this year.

The soundtrack to "Hannah Montana: The Movie" is the top seller of albums released in 2008, having just edged Eminem's "Relapse."